Methods and apparatus for associating mapping functionality and information in contact lists of mobile communication devices

ABSTRACT

In one illustrative example, a method of providing mapping functionality in a contact list of a mobile communication device comprises the acts of providing a contact list organizer function in the mobile device for use in organizing a plurality of contacts of a contact book or list; identifying, through a user interface of the mobile device, a user input request to map a location of a selected one of the contacts of the contact list; and in response to the user input request, performing the following further acts of identifying an address of the location in one or more address fields of the selected contact; sending, to an address geocoding server via wireless network, a request for location coordinates with the address as an input; receiving, via the wireless network, latitude and longitude coordinates of the location in response to the request for the location coordinates; and causing a map corresponding to the location of the selected contact to be visually rendered in a display of the mobile device based on map rendering data for the location corresponding to the latitude and longitude coordinates received via the wireless network in response to a request for map data of the location.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority toU.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application of the same title having Ser.No. 11/483,124 and filing date of 7 Jul. 2006, which claims furtherpriority to U.S. provisional patent application of the same title havingSer. No. 60/788,458, and filing date of 31 Mar. 2006, and to a U.S.provisional patent application entitled “Method And System ForDistribution Of Map Content To Mobile Communication Devices” having Ser.No. 60/787,541, and filing date of 31 Mar. 2006.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Technology

The present disclosure relates generally to mapping functionality andtechniques which are suitable for use in mobile communication devicesoperating in wireless communication networks.

2. Description of the Related Art

A mobile communication device may provide a contact organizer functionfor use in organizing a plurality of contacts in a contact list for anend user. The contact organizer function may be an address bookorganizer function, for example, where each contact of the plurality ofcontacts includes a name and associated contact information such as anaddress, one or more telephone numbers, and an electronic mail (e-mail)address. Some of the contact information, such as the telephone numberand e-mail address, may be utilized when communications are initiatedfrom the mobile communication device by the end user.

Increasingly, mobile communication devices are also provided withmapping functionality for presenting visually displayed maps ofgeographic locations. However, there has been no known usefulintegration of such contact organizer functionality and mappingfunctionality in mobile communication devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for methods and apparatus for associatingmapping functionality and information with contact list functionalityand information, especially in mobile communication devices whichoperate in wireless communication networks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of present disclosure will now be described by way ofexample with reference to attached figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram which illustrates pertinent components of amobile communication device and a wireless communication network of acommunication system;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed diagram of a preferred mobile communicationdevice of FIG. 1, namely, a mobile station;

FIG. 3A is a system diagram of network components which provide mappingfunctionality in the mobile communication devices of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 3B illustrates a message exchange between a mobile communicationdevice and a map server for downloading map content to the mobilecommunication device based on the system of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a Maplet data structure according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user interface of the mobilecommunication device;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of various software applications which mayreside in the mobile communication device;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are illustrations of a positioning wheel of the mobilecommunication device;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of information which may be displayed in avisual display of the mobile communication device, the information beingan address book contact of an address book of the mobile communicationdevice which contains a plurality of address book contacts;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method of associating mapping functionalityand information in an address book, which is one specific type ofcontact book which may be provided;

FIGS. 10-14 are illustrations of information which may be displayed inthe visual display in a sequence of events outlined in the flowchart ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another method of associating mappingfunctionality and information in the address book.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In one illustrative example of techniques of the present disclosure, amethod of associating mapping functionality in a contact list of amobile communication device comprises the acts of providing a contactlist organizer function in the mobile communication device for use inorganizing a plurality of contacts of a contact book or list;identifying, through a user interface of the mobile communicationdevice, a user input request to map a location of a selected one of thecontacts of the contact list; and in response to the user input request,performing the following further acts of identifying an address of thelocation in one or more address fields of the selected contact; sending,to an address geocoding server via wireless network, a request forlocation coordinates with the address as an input; receiving, via thewireless network, latitude and longitude coordinates of the location inresponse to the request for the location coordinates; and causing a mapcorresponding to the location of the selected contact to be visuallyrendered in a display of the mobile device based on map rendering datafor the location corresponding to the latitude and longitude coordinatesreceived via the wireless network in response to a request for map dataof the location.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 100 which includes amobile station 102 (one type of wireless or mobile communication device)which communicates through a wireless communication network 104. Mobilestation 102 preferably includes a visual display 112, a keyboard 114,and perhaps one or more auxiliary user interfaces (UI) 116, each ofwhich are coupled to a controller 106. Controller 106 is also coupled toradio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 108 and an antenna 110.Typically, controller 106 is embodied as a central processing unit (CPU)which runs operating system software in a memory component (not shown).Controller 106 will normally control overall operation of mobile station102, whereas signal processing operations associated with communicationfunctions are typically performed in RF transceiver circuitry 108.Controller 106 interfaces with device display 112 to display receivedinformation, stored information, user inputs, and the like. Keyboard114, which may be a telephone type keypad or full alphanumeric keyboard,is normally provided for entering data for storage in mobile station102, information for transmission to network 104, a telephone number toplace a telephone call, commands to be executed on mobile station 102,and possibly other or different user inputs.

Mobile station 102 sends communication signals to and receivescommunication signals from network 104 over a wireless link via antenna110. RF transceiver circuitry 108 performs functions similar to those ofstation 118 and BSC 120, including for example modulation/demodulationand possibly encoding/decoding and encryption/decryption. It is alsocontemplated that RF transceiver circuitry 108 may perform certainfunctions in addition to those performed by BSC 120. It will be apparentto those skilled in art that RF transceiver circuitry 108 will beadapted to particular wireless network or networks in which mobilestation 102 is intended to operate.

Mobile station 102 includes a battery interface 134 for receiving one ormore rechargeable batteries 132. Battery 132 provides electrical powerto electrical circuitry in mobile station 102, and battery interface 134provides for a mechanical and electrical connection for battery 132.Battery interface 134 is coupled to a regulator 136 which regulatespower to the device. When mobile station 102 is fully operational, an RFtransmitter of RF transceiver circuitry 108 is typically keyed or turnedon only when it is sending to network; and is otherwise turned off toconserve resources. Similarly, an RF receiver of RF transceivercircuitry 108 is typically periodically turned off to conserve poweruntil it is needed to receive signals or information (if at all) duringdesignated time periods.

Mobile station 102 operates using a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) 140which is connected to or inserted in mobile station 102 at a SIMinterface 142. SIM 140 is one type of a conventional “smart card” usedto identify an end user (or subscriber) of mobile station 102 and topersonalize the device, among other things. Without SIM 140, the mobilestation terminal is not fully operational for communication throughwireless network 104. By inserting SIM 140 into mobile station 102, anend user can have access to any and all of his/her subscribed services.SIM 140 generally includes a processor and memory for storinginformation. Since SIM 140 is coupled to SIM interface 142, it iscoupled to controller 106 through communication lines 144. In order toidentify the subscriber, SIM 140 contains some user parameters such asan International Mobile Subscriber Identity (MSI). An advantage of usingSIM 140 is that end users are not necessarily bound by any singlephysical mobile station. SIM 140 may store additional user informationfor the mobile station as well, including datebook (or calendar)information and recent call information.

Mobile station 102 may consist of a single unit, such as a datacommunication device, a cellular telephone, a Global Positioning System(GPS) unit, a multiple-function communication device with data and voicecommunication capabilities, a personal digital assistant (PDA) enabledfor wireless communication, or a computer incorporating an internalmodem. Alternatively, mobile station 102 may be a multiple-module unitcomprising a plurality of separate components, including but in no waylimited to a computer or other device connected to a wireless modem. Inparticular, for example, in the mobile station block diagram of FIG. 1,RF transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 may be implemented as aradio modem unit that may be inserted into a port on a laptop computer.In this case, the laptop computer would include display 112, keyboard114, one or more auxiliary UIs 116, and controller 106 embodied as thecomputer's CPU. It is also contemplated that a computer or otherequipment not normally capable of wireless communication may be adaptedto connect to and effectively assume control of RF transceiver circuitry108 and antenna 110 of a single-unit device such as one of thosedescribed above. Such a mobile station 102 may have a more particularimplementation as described later in relation to mobile station 402 ofFIG. 2.

Mobile station 102 communicates in and through wireless communicationnetwork 104. Wireless communication network 104 may be a cellulartelecommunications network. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, wirelessnetwork 104 is configured in accordance with Global Systems for MobileCommunications (GSM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technologies. Although wireless communication network 104 is describedherein as a GSM/GPRS type network, any suitable network technologies maybe utilized such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA(WCDMA), whether 2G, 3G, or Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS) based technologies. In this embodiment, the GSM/GPRS wirelessnetwork 104 includes a base station controller (BSC) 120 with anassociated tower station 118, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 122, aHome Location Register (HLR) 132, a Serving General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) 126, and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)128. MSC 122 is coupled to BSC 120 and to a landline network, such as aPublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 124. SGSN 126 is coupled to BSC120 and to GGSN 128, which is in turn coupled to a public or privatedata network 130 (such as the Internet). HLR 132 is coupled to MSC 122,SGSN 126, and GGSN 128.

Station 118 is a fixed transceiver station, and station 118 and BSC 120may be referred to as transceiver equipment. The transceiver equipmentprovides wireless network coverage for a particular coverage areacommonly referred to as a “cell”. The transceiver equipment transmitscommunication signals to and receives communication signals from mobilestations within its cell via station 118. The transceiver equipmentnormally performs such functions as modulation and possibly encodingand/or encryption of signals to be transmitted to the mobile station inaccordance with particular, usually predetermined, communicationprotocols and parameters, under control of its controller. Thetransceiver equipment, similarly demodulates and possibly decodes anddecrypts, if necessary, any communication signals received from mobilestation 102 within its cell. Communication protocols and parameters mayvary between different networks. For example, one network may employ adifferent modulation scheme and operate at different frequencies thanother networks.

The wireless link shown in communication system 100 of FIG. 1 representsone or more different channels, typically different radio frequency (RF)channels, and associated protocols used between wireless network 104 andmobile station 102. An RF channel is a limited resource that must beconserved, typically due to limits in overall bandwidth and a limitedbattery power of mobile station 102. Those skilled in art willappreciate that a wireless network in actual practice may includehundreds of cells, each served by a station 118 (i.e. or stationsector), depending upon desired overall expanse of network coverage. Allpertinent components may be connected by multiple switches and routers(not shown), controlled by multiple network controllers.

For all mobile station's 102 registered with a network operator,permanent data (such as mobile station 102 user's profile) as well astemporary data (such as mobile station's 102 current location) arestored in HLR 132. In case of a voice call to mobile station 102, HLR132 is queried to determine the current location of mobile station 102.A Visitor Location Register (VLR) of MSG 122 is responsible for a groupof location areas and stores the data of those mobile stations that arecurrently in its area of responsibility. This includes parts of thepermanent mobile station data that have been transmitted from HLR 132 tothe VLR for faster access. However, the VLR of MSC 122 may also assignand store local data, such as temporary identifications. Optionally, theVLR of MSC 122 can be enhanced for more efficient co-ordination of GPRSand non-GPRS services and functionality (e.g. paging forcircuit-switched calls which can be performed more efficiently via SGSN126, and combined GPRS and non-GPRS location updates).

Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 126 is at the same hierarchical levelas MSC 122 and keeps track of the individual locations of mobilestations. SGSN 126 also performs security functions and access control.Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 128 provides interworking with externalpacket-switched networks and is connected with SGSNs (such as SGSN 126)via an IP-based GPRS backbone network. SGSN 126 performs authenticationand cipher setting procedures based on the same algorithms, keys, andcriteria as in existing GSM. In conventional operation, cell selectionmay be performed autonomously by mobile station 102 or by thetransceiver equipment instructing mobile station 102 to select aparticular cell. Mobile station 102 informs wireless network 104 when itreselects another cell or group of cells, known as a routing area.

In order to access GPRS services, mobile station 102 first makes itspresence known to wireless network 104 by performing what is known as aGPRS “attach”. This operation establishes a logical link between mobilestation 102 and SGSN 126 and makes mobile station 102 available toreceive, for example, pages via SGSN, notifications of incoming GPRSdata, or SMS messages over GPRS. In order to send and receive GPRS data,mobile station 102 assists in activating the packet data address that itwants to use. This operation makes mobile station 102 known to GGSN 128;interworking with external data networks can thereafter commence. Userdata may be transferred transparently between mobile station 102 and theexternal data networks using, for example, encapsulation and tunneling.Data packets are equipped with GPRS-specific protocol information andtransferred between mobile station 102 and GGSN 128.

Those skilled in art will appreciate that a wireless network may beconnected to other systems, possibly including other networks, notexplicitly shown in FIG. 1. A network will normally be transmitting atvery least some sort of paging and system information on an ongoingbasis, even if there is no actual packet data exchanged. Although thenetwork consists of many parts, these parts ail work together to resultin certain behaviors at the wireless link.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a preferred mobile station 202 ofthe present disclosure. Mobile station 202 is preferably a two-waycommunication device having at least voice and advanced datacommunication capabilities, including the capability to communicate withother computer systems. Depending on the functionality provided bymobile station 202, it may be referred to as a data messaging device, atwo-way pager, a cellular telephone with data messaging capabilities, awireless Internet appliance, or a data communication device (with orwithout telephony capabilities). Mobile station 202 may communicate withany one of a plurality of fixed transceiver stations 200 within itsgeographic coverage area.

Mobile station 202 will normally incorporate a communication subsystem211, which includes a receiver 212, a transmitter 214, and associatedcomponents, such as one or more (preferably embedded or internal)antenna elements 216 and 218, local oscillators (LOs) 213, and aprocessing module such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 220.Communication subsystem 211 is analogous to RF transceiver circuitry 108and antenna 110 shown in FIG. 1. As will be apparent to those skilled infield of communications, particular design of communication subsystem211 depends on the communication network in which mobile station 202 isintended to operate.

Mobile station 202 may send and receive communication signals over thenetwork after required network registration or activation procedureshave been completed. Signals received by antenna 216 through the networkare input to receiver 212, which may perform such common receiverfunctions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering,channel selection, and like, and in example shown in FIG. 2,analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. A/D conversion of a received signalallows more complex communication functions such as demodulation anddecoding to be performed in DSP 220. In a similar manner, signals to betransmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding, forexample, by DSP 220. These DSP-processed signals are input totransmitter 214 for digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion, frequency upconversion, filtering, amplification and transmission over communicationnetwork via antenna 218. DSP 220 not only processes communicationsignals, but also provides for receiver and transmitter control. Forexample, the gains applied to communication signals in receiver 212 andtransmitter 214 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol algorithms implemented in DSP 220.

Network access is associated with a subscriber or user of mobile station202, and therefore mobile station 202 requires a Subscriber identityModule or “SIM” card 262 to be inserted in a SIM interface 264 in orderto operate in the network. SIM 262 includes those features described inrelation to FIG. 1. Mobile station 202 is a battery-powered device so italso includes a battery interface 254 for receiving one or morerechargeable batteries 256. Such a battery 256 provides electrical powerto most if not all electrical circuitry in mobile station 202, andbattery interface 254 provides for a mechanical and electricalconnection for it. The battery interface 254 is coupled to a regulator(not shown) which provides a regulated voltage V to all of thecircuitry.

Mobile station 202 includes a microprocessor 238 (which is oneimplementation of controller 106 of FIG. 1) which controls overalloperation of mobile station 202. Communication functions, including atleast data and voice communications, are performed through communicationsubsystem 211. Microprocessor 238 also interacts with additional devicesubsystems such as a display 222, a flash memory 224, a random accessmemory (RAM) 226, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 228, a serialport 230, a keyboard 232, a speaker 234, a microphone 236, a short-rangecommunications subsystem 240, and any other device subsystems generallydesignated at 242. Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 2 performcommunication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide“resident” or on-device functions. Notably, some subsystems, such askeyboard 232 and display 222, for example, may be used for bothcommunication-related functions, such as entering a text message fortransmission over a communication network, and device-resident functionssuch as a calculator or task list. Operating system software used bymicroprocessor 238 is preferably stored in a persistent store such asflash memory 224, which may alternatively be a read-only memory (ROM) orsimilar storage element (not shown). Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the operating system, specific device applications, orparts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store such asRAM 226

Microprocessor 238, in addition to its operating system functions,preferably enables execution of software applications on mobile station202. A predetermined set of applications which control basic deviceoperations, including at least data and voice communicationapplications, as well as the inventive functionality of the presentdisclosure, will normally be installed on mobile station 202 during itsmanufacture. A preferred application that may be loaded onto mobilestation 202 may be a personal information manager (PIM) applicationhaving the ability to organize and manage data items relating to usersuch as, but not limited to, e-mail, calendar events, voice mails,appointments, and task items. Naturally, one or more memory stores areavailable on mobile station 202 and SIM 256 to facilitate storage of PIMdata items and other information.

The PIM application preferably has the ability to send and receive dataitems via the wireless network. In the present disclosure, PIM dataitems are seamlessly integrated, synchronized, and updated via thewireless network, with the mobile station user's corresponding dataitems stored and/or associated with a host computer system therebycreating a mirrored host computer on mobile station 202 with respect tosuch items. This is especially advantageous where the host computersystem is the mobile station user's office computer system. Additionalapplications may also be loaded onto mobile station 202 through network,an auxiliary I/O subsystem 228, serial port 230, short-rangecommunications subsystem 240, or any other suitable subsystem 242, andinstalled by a user in RAM 226 or preferably a non-volatile store (notshown) for execution by microprocessor 238. Such flexibility inapplication installation increases the functionality of mobile station202 and may provide enhanced on-device functions, communication-relatedfunctions, or both For example, secure communication applications mayenable electronic commerce functions and other such financialtransactions to be performed using mobile station 202.

In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text message,an e-mail message, or web page download will be processed bycommunication subsystem 211 and input to microprocessor 238.Microprocessor 238 will preferably further process the signal for outputto display 222 or alternatively to auxiliary I/O device 228. A user ofmobile station 202 may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages,for example, using keyboard 232 in conjunction with display 222 andpossibly auxiliary I/O device 228. Keyboard 232 is preferably a completealphanumeric keyboard and/or telephone-type keypad. These composed itemsmay be transmitted over a communication network through communicationsubsystem 211.

For voice communications, the overall operation of mobile station 202 issubstantially similar, except that the received signals would be outputto speaker 234 and signals for transmission would be generated bymicrophone 236. Alternative voice or audio I/O subsystems, such as avoice message recording subsystem, may also be implemented on mobilestation 202. Although voice or audio signal output is preferablyaccomplished primarily through speaker 234, display 222 may also be usedto provide an indication of the identity of a calling party, duration ofa voice call, or other voice call related information, as some examples.

Serial port 230 in FIG. 2 is normally implemented in a personal digitalassistant (PDA)-type communication device for which synchronization witha user's desktop computer is a desirable, albeit optional, component.Serial port 230 enables a user to set preferences through an externaldevice or software application and extends the capabilities of mobilestation 202 by providing for information or software downloads to mobilestation 202 other than through a wireless communication network. Thealternate download path may, for example, be used to load an encryptionkey onto mobile station 202 through a direct and thus reliable andtrusted connection to thereby provide secure device communication.

Short-range communications subsystem 240 of FIG. 2 is an additionaloptional component which provides for communication between mobilestation 202 and different systems or devices, which need not necessarilybe similar devices. For example, subsystem 240 may include an infrareddevice and associated circuits and components, or a Bluetooth™communication module to provide for communication with similarly-enabledsystems and devices. Bluetooth™ is a registered trademark of BluetoothSIG, Inc.

FIG. 3A is a system diagram of network components which provide mappingfunctionality in the mobile communication devices of FIGS. 1 and 2. Toachieve this, a mapping application is also provided in memory of themobile communication device (e.g. a mapping application 550 of FIG. 5)for rendering of visual maps in its display. Mobile communicationdevices, such as mobile station 202, are connected over a mobile carriernetwork 303 for communication through a firewall 305 to a relay 307. Arequest for map data from any one of the mobile communication devices isreceived at relay 307 and passed via a secure channel 309 throughfirewall 311 to a corporate enterprise server 313 and corporate mobiledata system (MDS) server 315. The request, is then passed via firewall317 to a public location-based service (LBS) server 321 which provideslocation-based services (LBS) to handle the request. The network mayinclude a plurality of such LBS servers where requests are distributedand processed through a load distributing server. The LBS data may bestored on this network server 321 in a network database 322, or may bestored on a separate LBS data server (not shown). Private corporate datastored on corporate LBS server 325 may be added to the public data viacorporate MDS server 315 on the secure return path to mobile station202. Alternatively, where no corporate servers provided, the requestfrom mobile station 202 may be passed via relay 307 to a public MDSserver 327, which sends the request to public LBS server 321 providingLBS to handle the request.

The network may also include an address geocoding server (not shown inFIG. 3A) which provides latitude and longitude coordinates correspondingto an address (e.g. a residential home or business address) in responseto a request for latitude and longitude coordinates with the address asan input. The address geocoding server is preferably a server that isseparate and apart from LBS server 321 which provides map data forrending maps. The address geocoding server may be provided in the samenetwork as LBS server 321 or, alternatively, in a different network.

A Maplet data structure is provided that contains all of the graphic andlabeled content, associated with a geographic area (e.g. map featuressuch as restaurants (point features), streets (line features), or lakes(polygon features)). Maplets are structured in Layers of “DEntries”(Data Entries) identified by a “Layer ID” to enable data from differentsources to be deployed to the device and meshed for proper rendering.Each DEntry is representative of one or more artifact or label (or acombination of both) and includes coordinate information (also referredto a “bounding box” or “bounding area”) to identify the area covered bythe DEntry and a plurality of data Points that together represent theartifact or label. For example, a DEntry may be used to represent astreet on a city map (or a plurality of streets), wherein the variousPoints within the DEntry are separated into different parts representingvarious portions of the artifact (e.g. portions of a street). A mobiledevice may issue a request for the map server to download only thoseDEntries that are included within a specified area or bounding boxrepresenting an area of interest that can be represented by, forexample, a pair of bottom left, top right coordinates.

As discussed later below with reference to FIG. 3B, the mobile deviceissues one or more AOI (Area of Interest) requests, DEntry or datarequests and Maplet Index requests to the map server, for selectivedownloading of map data based on user context Thus, rather thantransmitting the entire map data with each request from the device,local caching may be used within the mobile device in conjunction withcontext filtering of map data on the server. For example, if a user'smobile device is GPS enabled and the user is traveling in an automobileat 120 km/hr along a freeway then context filtering can be employed toprevent downloading of map data relating to passing side streets. Or, ifthe user is traveling in an airplane at 30,000′ then context filteringcan be employed to prevent downloading of map data for any streetswhatsoever. Also, a user's context can be defined, for example, in termsof occupation (e.g. a user whose occupation is transport truck drivercan employ context filtering to prevent downloading of map data for sidestreets on which the user's truck is incapable of traveling, or a userwhose occupation is to replenish supplies of soft drink dispensingmachines can employ context filtering to download public map datashowing the users geographical area of responsibility with irrelevantfeatures such as lakes or parks filtered out and private map datacontaining the location of soft drink dispensing machines superimposedon the public map data.

The Maplet Index request results in a Maplet Index (i.e. only a portionof the Maplet that provides a table of contents of the map dataavailable within the Maplet rather than the entire Maplet) beingdownloaded from the map server to the device, thereby conserving OTA(Over-the-Air) bandwidth and device memory caching requirements. TheMaplet Index conforms to the same data structure as a Maplet, but omitsthe data Points. Consequently, the Maplet Index is small (e.g. 300-400bytes) relative to the size of a fully populated Maplet or aconventional bit map, and includes DEntry bounding boxes and attributes(size, complexity, etc.) for all artifacts within the Maplet. As thefield of view changes (e.g. for a location-aware device that displays amap while moving), the device (client) software assesses whether or notit needs to download additional data from the server. Thus, as discussedabove, if the size attribute or complexity attribute of an artifact thathas started to move into the field of view of the device (but is not yetbeing displayed) is not relevant to the viewer's current context, thenthe device can choose not to display that portion of the artifact. Onthe other hand, if the portion of the artifact is appropriate fordisplay then the device accesses its cache to determine whether theDEntries associated with that portion of the artifact have already beendownloaded, in which case the cached content is displayed. Otherwise,the device issues a request for the map server to download all of theDEntries associated with the artifact portion.

By organizing the Maplet data structure in Layers, it is possible toseamlessly combine and display information obtained from public andprivate databases. For example, it is possible for the device to displayan office building at a certain address on a street (e.g. 1^(st) z-orderattribute from public database), adjacent a river (e.g. 2^(nd) z-orderattribute from public database), with a superimposed floor plan of thebuilding to show individual offices (e.g. 11^(th) z-order attribute froma private database, accessible through a firewall).

Referring back to FIG. 3A, within the network having LBS server(s) 321and database(s) 322 accessible to it, all of the map data for the entireworld is divided and stored as a grid according to various levels ofresolution (zoom), as set forth below in Table A. Thus, a single A levelMaplet represents a 0.05×0.05 degree grid area; a single B level Mapletrepresents a 0.5×0.5 degree grid area; a single C level Mapletrepresents a 5×5 degree grid area; a single D level Maplet represents a50×50 degree grid area and a single E level Maplet represents the entireworld in a single Maplet. It is understood that Table A is only anexample of a particular Maplet grid configuration; other or differentgrid configurations may also be developed. A Maplet comprises of a setof layers, with each layer containing a set of DEntries, and eachDEentry containing a set of points.

TABLE A # of Maplets # of Maplets # of Maplets Grid to cover to cover tocover Level (degrees) the World North America Europe A 0.05 × 0.0525,920,000 356,000 100,000 B 0.5 × 0.5 259,200 6,500 1000 C 5 × 5 2,59296 10 D 50 × 50 32 5 5 E World 1 1 1

Turning now to FIG. 3B, three specific types of requests may begenerated by a mobile communication device (i.e. the client)—AOIrequests, DEntry requests, and Maplet Index requests. The requests maybe generated separately or in various combinations, as discussed ingreater detail below. An AOI (area of interest) request calls for allDEntries in a given area (bounding box) for a predetermined or selectedset of z-order layers. The AOI request is usually generated when themobile communication device moves to a new area so as to fetch Dentriesfor display before the device client knows what is available in theMaplet. The Maplet Index has the exact same structure as a Maplet butdoes not contain complete DEntries (i.e. the data Points that actuallyrepresent artifacts and labels are omitted). Thus, a Maplet Indexdefines what layers and DEntries are available for a given Maplet. Adata or DEntry request is a mechanism to bundle together all of therequired DEntries for a given Maplet.

Typically, AOI and Maplet Index requests are paired together in the samemessage, although they need not be, while DEntry requests are generatedmost often. For example, when the mobile communication device moves intoan area in connection with which no information has been stored on thedevice client, the Maplet Index request returns a Maplet Index thatindicates what data the client can specifically request from the server321, while the AOI request returns any DEntries within the area ofinterest for the specified layers (if they exist). In the examplerequests shown in FIG. 3B, the desired Maplet is identified within aDEntry request by specifying the bottom-left Maplet coordinate. Inaddition, the DEntry request may include a layer mask so that unwantedLayers are not downloaded, a DEntry mask so that unwanted data Pointsare not downloaded, and zoom values to specify a zoom level for therequested DEntry. Once the device client has received the requestedMaplet Index, the client typically then issues multiple DEntry requeststo ask for specific DEntries (since the client knows all of the specificDEntries that are available based on the Maplet Index).

According to the present disclosure herein, a collection of 20×20A-level Maplets (representing a 1×1 degree square) is compiled into aMaplet file (.mbl). An .mbl file contains a header which specifies theoffset and length of each Maplet in the .mbl file. The same 20×20collection of Maplet index data is compiled into a Maplet Index file(.mbx). The .mbl and .mbx file structures are set forth in Tables B andC, respectively.

TABLE B Address Offset Offset Length 0x000 Maplet # 0 Offset (4 Maplet #0 Length (4 bytes) bytes) 0x008 Maplet # 1 Offset Maplet # 1 Length0x010 Maplet # 2 Offset Maplet # 2 Length . . . . . . . . . 0xC78 Maplet# 399 Offset Maplet # 399 Length 0xC80 Beginning of Maplet # 0 0xC80 +Size of Maplet # 0 Beginning of Maplet # 1 0xC80 + Size of Beginning ofMaplet # 2 Maplet # 0 + # 1 . . . . . . 0xC80 + Σ of Size of Beginningof Maplet # 399 Maplets (# 0:# 398)

In Table B, the offset of Maplet #0 is 0x0000_(—)0000 since, accordingto the present disclosure, the data structure is based on the assumptionthat the base address for the actual Maplet data is 0x0000_(—)0C80.Therefore the absolute address for Maplet #0 data is: Maplet #0Address=Base Address (0x0000_(—)0C80)+Maplet #0 Offset (0x0000_(—)0000),and additional Maplet addresses are calculated as: Maplet # (n+1)Offset=Maplet # (n) Offset+Maplet #(n) Length. If a Maplet has no dataor does not exist, the length parameter is set to zero (0x0000_(—)0000).

TABLE C Address Offset Offset (4 bytes) Length (4 bytes) 0x000 MapletIndex # 0 Maplet Index # 0 Offset Length 0x008 Maplet Index # 1 MapletIndex # 1 Offset Length 0x010 Maplet Index # 2 Maplet Index # 2 OffsetLength . . . . . . . . . 0xC78 Maplet Index # Maplet Index # 399 Offset399 Length 0xC80 Beginning of Maplet Index # 0 0xC80 + Size of MapletIndex Beginning of Maplet Index # 1 # 0 0xC80 + Size of Maplet IndexBeginning of Maplet Index # 2 # 0 + # 1 . . . . . . 0xC80 + Σ of Size ofMaplet Beginning of Maplet Index # 399 Indices (# 0:# 399)

In Table C, the offset of Maplet Index #0 is 0x0000_(—)0000 since,according to the present disclosure the data structure is based on theassumption that the base address for the actual Maplet index data is0x0000_(—)0C80. Therefore the absolute address for Maplet Index #0 datais: Maplet Index #0 Address=Base Address (0x0000_(—)0C80)+ Maplet Index#0 Offset (0x0000_(—)0000), and additional Maplet index addresses arecalculated as: Maplet Index # (n+1) Offset=Maplet Index # (n)Offset+Maplet Index #(n) Length. If a Maplet Index has no data or doesnot exist, the length parameter is set to zero (0x0000_(—)0000).

FIG. 3C and Table D below, in combination, illustrate an exemplaryembodiment of a basic Maplet data structure. Generally, as noted above,the Maplet data structure can be said to include a Maplet Index (i.e. anindex of the DEntries, each of which representative of either anartifact or a label or both) together with data Points for each DEntrythat actually form such artifacts and labels. In this example, eachMaplet includes a Map ID (e.g. 0xA1B1C1D1), the # of Layers in theMaplet, and a Layer Entry for each Layer. The Map ID identifies the dataas a valid Maplet and according to one alternative, may also be used toidentify a version number for the data. The # of Layers is an integerwhich indicates the number of Layers (and therefore Layer Entries) inthe Maplet. Each Layer Entry defines rendering attributes for allDEntries in the corresponding Layer and is followed by a list ofDEntries for that Layer. The above forms a Maplet Index. For a completeMaplet, each DEntry contains a set of data Points (referred to herein asoPoints) or Labels). Note that Layers may have multiple DEntries and thecomplete list of DEntrys and Points are grouped by Layer and separatedby a Layer Separator (e.g. hex value 0xEEEEEEEE). According to anexemplary embodiment, each Layer Entry is 20 bytes long, and a DEntry is12 bytes long. However, the number of Layers, number of DEntries perLayer and the number of Points per DEntry depends on the map data and isvariable.

Table D provides a high “byte-level” description of a Maplet

TABLE D Data Quantity Total # of Bytes Map ID 1 4 bytes # of Layers 1 4bytes Layer Entrys # of Layers 20 bytes × (# of Layers) DEntry of a × (#of # of Layers 12 bytes × (Σ of the # of Layer DEntries DEntrys in eachLayer) + Points for DEntry in a 4 bytes × (Σ of the # of a Layer Layer)of Points in each DEntry in each Layer) + Layer Separator 4 bytes × (#of Layers)

For even greater detail if desired, this application hereby incorporatesby reference herein a U.S. provisional patent application entitled“Method And System For Distribution Of Map Content To MobileCommunication Devices” having Ser. No. 60/787,541, lead inventor EricJohnson, and a filing date of 31 Mar. 2006.

FIG. 4 is an example of a user interface 402 of mobile station 202 whichincludes at least display 222, keyboard 232, speaker 234, microphone236, and a cursor or view positioning mechanism such as a positioningwheel 410 (e.g. a scrollwheel wheel) or a trackball 433. Although shownenlarged in FIG. 4 for clarity, this mobile station 202 is sized to be ahandheld portable device. As an alternative to or in addition topositioning wheel 410 and/or trackball 433, a wide range of one or morepointing or cursor/view positioning mechanisms such as a touch pad ajoystick button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a tablet, or other whetherpresently known or unknown, may be employed. As employed herein, theterm “cursor” shall expressly include, but not be limited by, a pointer,a movable item or other visual cue (e.g., without limitation, agraphical object; a special symbol; an outline; a rectangle; anunderline character; a blinking item) used to mark a position or pointto another item on a display, in order to, for example, indicateposition for data entry or for selection of the other item.

Keys 428 of keyboard 232 are disposed on a front face of a housing 406and positioning wheel 410 is disposed at a side of housing 406. Keyboard232 is in the example form of a reduced QWERTY keyboard including aplurality of keys 428 that serve as input members. It can be seen thatthe arrangement of the characters 448 on keys 428 of keyboard 424 isgenerally of the QWERTY arrangement, albeit with many of keys 428including two of characters 448. In the example depiction of keyboard424, many of keys 428 include two characters, such as including a firstcharacter 452 and a second character 456 assigned thereto. It isunderstood that the expression “characters” shall broadly be construedto include letters, digits, symbols and the like and can additionallyinclude ideographic characters, components thereof, and the like. One ofkeys 428 of keyboard 424 includes as the characters 448 thereof theletters “Q” and “W”, and an adjacent key 428 includes as the characters448 thereof the letters “E” and “R”. Keyboard 424 may be of otherconfigurations, such as an AZERTY keyboard, a QWERTZ keyboard, a Dvorakkeyboard, or other keyboard or keypad arrangement, whether presentlyknown or unknown, and either reduced or not reduced (i.e. full). In a“full” or non-reduced keyboard or keypad arrangement, each key has asingle letter (not multiple letters) of the alphabet assigned to it.

Among keys 428 of keyboard 232 are a <NEXT> key 440 and an <ENTER> key444. The <NEXT> key 440, wherein, for example, “<NEXT>” may be a symbolor may be the word “next” provided (e.g. printed) on the key, may bepressed to provide a selection input to the processor and providessubstantially the same selection input as is provided by a rotationalinput of positioning wheel 410. Since <NEXT> key 440 is providedadjacent a number of other keys 428 of keyboard 232, the user canprovide a selection input to the processor substantially without movingthe user's hands away from the keyboard 232 during a text entryoperation. Another key, the <ESC> key 445 is disposed on the side ofhousing 406 adjacent positioning wheel 438, although the same or similarkey may be disposed as part of keyboard 232. Among keys 428 of thekeyboard 424 additionally is a <DEL> key 486 that can be provided todelete a text entry.

Positioning wheel 410 may serve as another input member and is bothrotatable, as is indicated by an arrow 412, to provide selection inputsto the processor, and also can be pressed in a direction generallytoward housing 406, as is indicated by an arrow 414 to provide anotherselection input to the processor. Positioning wheel 410 will bedescribed in more detail in relation to FIGS. 6 and 7 below.

Display 222 may include a cursor 484 that depicts generally where thenext input or selection from user interface 402 will be received.Display 222 is shown in FIG. 4 as displaying a home screen thatrepresents a number of applications 586 (see also FIG. 5 which showssome of the example possible applications 86) depicted as correspondingdiscrete icons 488. Icons 488 include, for example, an Electronic Mail(E-Mail) icon 490, a Calendar icon 492, an Address Book; icon 494, aTasks icon 496, a Messages icon 497, a MemoPad icon 498, and a Searchicon 499, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 5, memory 224 includes a plurality of applications orroutines 586 associated with the visually displayed icons 488 of FIG. 4for the processing of data. Applications 586 may be in any of a varietyof forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, and the like.Applications 586 include, for example, an Electronic Mail (E-Mail)application 588 (FIG. 5) associated with E-mail icon 490 (FIG. 4), aCalendar application 590 (FIG. 5) associated with Calendar icon 492(FIG. 4), an Address Book application 592 (FIG. 5) associated withAddress Book icon 494 (FIG. 4), a Tasks application 594 (FIG. 5)associated with Tasks icon 496 (FIG. 4), a MemoPad (Memos) application596 (FIG. 5) associated with MemoPad icon 498, a Messages application598 (FIG. 5) associated with Message icon 497 (FIG. 4), and a Searchapplication 500 (FIG. 5) associated with Search icon 499 (FIG. 4). Anoperating system (OS) program 516 also resides in memory 224. The mobilestation of the present disclosure is also adapted to render visual mapsin its visual display, and utilizes a mapping application 550 stored inmemory 224 to facilitate map rendering and related functionality.

In FIG. 4, the “home” screen output is currently active and constitutesthe main “ribbon” application for displaying the icons 488 shown. Anapplication, such as E-mail application 588 of FIG. 5, may then beinitiated (opened or viewed) from user interface 402 by providing asuitable user input to it. For example. E-mail application 588 may beinitiated (opened or viewed) by rotating positioning wheel 410 tohighlight E-mail icon 490 and providing a selection input by translatingpositioning wheel 410 in the direction indicated by arrow 438. Asanother example, display 222 displays icon 499 associated with Searchapplication 500 and accepts input from positioning wheel 410 to initiatea search from that icon 499. Applications 586 may be additionally oralternatively initiated (opened or viewed) from user interface 402 byproviding another suitable input to it, such as by suitably rotating or“rolling” trackball 433 and providing a selection input by, for example,pushing the trackball 33 (e.g. somewhat similar to positioning wheel 410except into the plane of FIG. 4).

Movement, navigation, and/or scrolling with use of a cursor/viewpositioning mechanism is beneficial given the relatively large size ofvisually displayed information and the compact size of display 222, andsince information and messages are typically only partially presented inthe limited view of display 222 at any given moment. As previouslydescribed, positioning wheel 410 is one helpful cursor/view positioningmechanism to achieve such movement. Positioning wheel 410, which may bereferred to as a scrollwheel, specifically includes a circular discwhich is rotatable about a fixed axis of housing 302 and may be rotatedby the end user's index finger or thumb. When the information or messageis being partially displayed, an upwards rotation of positioning wheel410 causes an upwards scrolling such that display 222 presents viewingof an upper portion of the information or message. Similarly, adownwards rotation of positioning wheel 410 causes a downwards scrollingsuch that display 222 presents viewing of a lower portion of theinformation or message. Positioning wheel 410 is mounted along a fixedlinear axis such that the end user can depress positioning wheel 410inwards toward housing 406 (e.g. with the end user's index finger orthumb) for selection of information. Again, see the direction indicatedby an arrow 414 of positioning wheel 410 shown.

A more detailed mechanism for positioning wheel 410 is now described inrelation to FIGS. 6 and 7. Positioning wheel 410 of FIGS. 6-7 is shownconnected to and rotatable about a body assembly 610. Body assembly 610may be connected to or be part of a slide assembly 720. Slide assembly720 allows the entirety of positioning wheel 410 and body assembly 610may move freely laterally 414 with respect to the handheld device.Lateral positioning wheel movement 414 is defined as movement along aplane normal to the rotational axis of positioning wheel 410. To controlthis lateral movement 414, slide assembly 720 may be connected to acontrol mechanism such as a cam mechanism 730 with a cam 731, oralternatively a level mechanism, a solenoid mechanism, or some otheractuating means. Cam mechanism 730 is connected to a cam controller 740responsible for controlling a lateral position of positioning wheel 410.As earn 731 connected to cam mechanism 730 and slide assembly 720 moves,positioning wheel 410 and body assembly 610 accordingly move laterally.Such lateral movement inwards toward, the housing is detectable by theprocessor of the mobile station as a switch input (actuation ordepression of the positioning wheel key).

Although positioning wheel 410 has been shown and described as onemechanism for use in navigating and moving through visually displayedinformation, any suitable mechanism may be utilized for the present userinterface techniques, such a trackball; UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT keys;a mouse and cursor mechanism, or a touch screen display mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of information which may be displayed indisplay 222 from use of Address book application 592 of FIG. 5.Specifically, the information in FIG. 8 is an example of address bookcontact information 800 of an address book for organizing a plurality ofaddress book contacts for the end user. This address book contactinformation 800 may be viewable after opening the Address Bookapplication from the homescreen page.

In the example of FIG. 8, address book contact information 800 includesan address book name 802 in an address book, name field, a business orwork telephone number 804 in a business or work telephone number field,a home telephone number 805 in a home telephone number field, a businessor work address 806 in one or more business or work address fields, anda home address 808 in one or more home address fields. Other informationmay include a company name (e.g. Company, Inc.) in a company name field,a title or position of the end user in the company, and a PersonalIdentification Number (PIN) in a PIN field. Each address book contact ofthe address book has a plurality of the same fields for organizing suchinformation. Some field of any address book contact may remain empty,depending on the end user and/or the availability of information to theend user. Additional location information for the address book contactinformation 800 may be included, such as a real-time location of amobile communication device associated with the selected address bookcontact received through the wireless transceiver. This location may bein the form of a real-time position address or real-time latitude andlongitude coordinates, and may be received substantially in real-time bythe mobile communication device.

The address book application stored in the mobile station providesaddress book organizer functionality for the end user. The end usertypically manually enters address book contact information for eachcontact into storage of memory for subsequent use in facilitatingcommunications. Alternatively or additionally, address book contactinformation may be downloaded or otherwise received in the device in anon-manual fashion. The address book contacts may be presented (orpresentable) in a list which may be alphabetized (or alphabetizable) byaddress book name or by other field information, or may be otherwisesorted (or sortable). Additionally, the address book contacts may besearchable by any field through use of the Search application 500 (FIG.5). Note that the address book contact information may be stored locallyin memory of the mobile station or, alternatively, outside of the mobilestation such as in an accessible network database; what is important isthat the address book contact information is accessible and viewable atthe mobile station.

Once an address book contact, has been identified or selected from theaddress book, the information may be used for facilitatingcommunications for the end user. For example, as described earlier, themobile station is adapted to operate in a wireless communication networkfor wireless telephony communications. Since each address book contactmay have at least one telephone number field for a telephone number,this information may be used in initiating telephone calls from themobile station. The processor of the mobile station may identify,through the user interface, a user input selection of a telephone numberin the address book contact for placing a telephone call and cause thetelephone call to the telephone number to be initiated through thewireless communication network in response to this user input selection.For example, the address book contact or telephone number may beselected using the positioning wheel and then a “CALL” function to thetelephone number is subsequently selected via a pull down menu.

As also described earlier, the mobile station is adapted to operate inthe wireless communication network for wireless message communications.Since each address book contact may have at least one electronic mail(e-mail) address field for an e-mail address, this information may beused in sending e-mail messages from the mobile station. The processorof the mobile station may identify, through the user interlace, a userinput selection of an e-mail address of the address book contact forsending an e-mail message and insert the e-mail address as a destinationaddress of a new e-mail message to be delivered in response to the userinput selection. For example, the address book contact or e-mail addressis selected using the positioning wheel and then an “E-MAIL” function tothe e-mail address is subsequently selected via a pull down menu. Theend user may then type or otherwise insert the body text of the e-mailmessage and send it.

As mentioned earlier, the mobile station of the present disclosure isalso adapted to render visual maps in its visual display. Referring backto FIG. 5, a mapping application 550 is provided in memory 224 of themobile station for rendering of visual maps in the display. Maprendering may be performed substantially as described in relation toFIG. 3 where the mobile station sends requests for map rendering data tothe network with address and/or latitude and longitude coordinates asinput, subsequently receiving the map rendering data which it uses torender a map in the visual display.

Note, however, that map rendering data may be cached and maintained inmemory over time. Therefore, initially, a mobile communication devicemay request and retrieve the map data from the network database over thewireless communication network and store the map data in the memorycache; the processor may then subsequently utilize the map data in itscache to render maps in the visual display of the device. Any map datanot found within the cache (typically the case when the location orregion of the map substantially changes or is different) needs to berequested and retrieved from the network database as previouslydescribed. Note that, as an alternative to the use of map rendering dataor maplet data, map display may be performed by retrieving “bitmaps” ofthe maps and visually displaying these bitmaps corresponding to theaddress and/or latitude and longitude coordinates.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a general method of providing mappingfunctionality and information in a contact book or list. In the exampleprovided, the contact book is an address book as described earlierabove. However, the contact book or list may be any suitable contactbook or list, such as a telephone number book or list, an e-mail addressbook or list, or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or USIM book orlist. The method is performed by a mobile communication device asdescribed in relation to the previous figures, or alternatively by anycomputer or communication device (e.g. a PC). The method may be executedby one or more processors of the communication device. A computerprogram product for the mobile station may include computer instructionsstored on a computer readable medium (memory, a floppy disk or CD-ROM)which are written in accordance with the described logic of this method.

Beginning at a start block 902 of FIG. 9, an address book organizerfunction for use in organizing a plurality of address book contacts ofan address book is provided in a mobile communication device for use infacilitating wireless communications (step 904 of FIG. 9). Again, theaddress book; organizer function may more generally be a contact bookorganizer function having a plurality of contacts. The processor of themobile communication devices then identifies, through its userinterface, a user input request, to map a location of a selected one ofthe address book contacts of the address book (step 906 of FIG. 9).Next, the processor causes a map corresponding to the location to bevisually displayed in the display of the mobile communication device inresponse to the user input request (step 908 of FIG. 9). The mobilecommunication device may use its processor to map the location asdescribed earlier in relation to, for example, FIG. 3.

FIGS. 10-14 are example illustrations of information which may bedisplayed in the visual display in a specific sequence of eventsoutlined in the flowchart of FIG. 9. FIG. 10 illustrates that thedisplay 222 may initially show one of the plurality of address bookcontacts of the address book. In this example, an address book contact1002 for a person named “Rich Peillard” is shown. Specifically, theaddress book name and work location is shown for the address bookcontact 1002 in a list provided through an address book contact searchinitiated by the end user. In FIG. 11, the processor detects anactuation (depression) of the positioning wheel, by the end user and, inresponse, causes display 222 to display a pop-up or pull-down menu 1004of functions for acting upon the selected address book contact.

As illustrated, some of the functions 1008 in pull-down menu 1004include a “View” function for viewing the full address book contactinformation; an “Edit” function for editing the address book contactinformation; a “Delete” function for deleting the address book contactinformation from the address book; a “View Home Map” function forviewing a visually displayed map corresponding to the home address ofthe address book contact; a “View Work Map” function for viewing avisually displayed map corresponding to the work or business address ofthe address book contact; an “Email” function for the creation of ane-mail message with the e-mail address of the address book contactinserted as the destination address of the e-mail message; a “PIN”function for the creation of a PIN message with the PIN inserted as thedestination address of the PIN address; and a “Call” function for theinitiation of a telephone call to one of the telephone numbers of theaddress book contact.

The end user uses the positioning wheel to scroll down the list offunctions 1008 of pull-down menu 1004 to highlight the “View Home Map”function 1006, as shown in FIG. 11. The processor subsequently detectsan actuation (depression) of the positioning wheel by the end user forselecting the highlighted “View Home Map” function 1006 for execution.In response, the processor causes the mapping application of the mobilecommunication device to be executed with the location of the “home”address of the selected address book contact as an input parameter. Asindicated previously in relation to FIG. 8, note that home address 808of the address book contact is “516 Athlone Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada” In response, the processor receives map rendering data from themapping application corresponding to home address 808 of address bookcontact 800. Using this map rendering data, the processor causes a map1210 of the location of home address 808 to be visually displayed indisplay 222, as shown in FIG. 12. Map 1210 of FIG. 12 includes one ormore address indications or labels 1202 of the home address in or aroundthe map 1210.

In lieu of having selected “View Home Map” function 1006 as described inrelation to FIG. 11, the end user may alternatively select the “ViewWork Map” function. Referring now to FIG. 13, the end user uses thepositioning wheel to scroll down the list of functions of pull-down menu1004 to highlight the “View Work Map” function 1302, as shown in FIG.13. The processor subsequently detects an actuation (depression) of thepositioning wheel by the end user for selecting the highlighted “ViewWork Map” function 1302 for execution. In response, the processor causesthe mapping application of the mobile communication device to beexecuted with the location of the “work” address of the selected addressbook contact as the input parameter. The work address is retrieved fromone or more address fields the address book contact and used as theinput parameter for mapping. As indicated previously in relation to FIG.8, note that work address 806 of address book contact 800 is “450 MarchRoad, Kanata, Ontario, Canada” as indicated previously in relation toFIG. 8. In response, the processor receives map data from the mappingapplication corresponding to work address 806 of address book; contact800. Using this map data, the processor causes a map 1410 of thelocation of work address 806 to be visually displayed in display 222, asshown in FIG. 14. Map 1410 of FIG. 14 includes one or more addressindications or labels 1402 of the work address in or around the map1410.

As described previously, additional location information for the addressbook contact information may be included, such as a real-time locationof a mobile communication device associated with the selected addressbook contact received through the wireless transceiver. This locationmay be in the form of a real-time position address or real-time latitudeand longitude coordinates, and may be received substantially inreal-time by the mobile communication device. In this case, a “ViewReal-Time Map” function may be utilized for viewing a map correspondingto the current location of the address book contact, using similartechniques described in relation to FIGS. 8-14.

As described above, the map may be created based on an address (e.g.work or home address) in the address book; contact. Additionally oralternatively, each address book contact may contain one or morelocation fields having location data (exposed or hidden) which mayindicate the location of the address without use of the address itself.For example, the one or more location fields may contain latitude andlongitude coordinates (exposed or hidden) corresponding to the location.In this case, the map may be created without any use of the address ofthe address book contact and instead using the latitude and longitudecoordinates directly.

Preferably, according to the present disclosure, the mobilecommunication device may produce the map using the address of theaddress book contact along with an intermediary receipt and use oflatitude and longitude coordinates. After receiving the user inputrequest, the processor of the mobile communication device may identifythe address in one or more address fields of the address book contactand send a request for location coordinates to an address geocodingserver (e.g. described earlier in relation to FIG. 3A) via the wirelessnetwork with the address as an input. The processor receives latitudeand longitude coordinates corresponding to the address/location from theaddress geocoding server via the wireless network in response to therequest. Subsequently, the processor sends a request for map data withthe latitude and longitude coordinates as an input to the map server(e.g. server 321 described earlier above) via the wireless network, andreceives map rendering data in response to the request from the mapserver via the wireless network. The processor then causes the mapcorresponding to the location to be visually rendered based on the maprendering data received from the map server. As the device may utilizepreviously-stored map data in its cache to render maps in the visualdisplay of the device, the subsequent request for map data may merely bemade to its mapping application to retrieve the map rendering data;however any map rendering data not found within the cache (typically thecase when the location or region of the map substantially changes or isdifferent) will need to be requested and retrieved from the mapserver/network database as previously described.

The technique utilizing the address of the address book contact alongwith an intermediary receipt and use of latitude and longitudecoordinates is preferred, especially in the case where maintainingcompatibility of the data structure for the address book; contacts isdesirable, and maintaining a separation of mapping functionality is alsodesirable. As illustrated in relation to FIG. 8, an address book;contact may not include any fields for map location (e.g. latitude andlongitude coordinates), visible or otherwise. It is desirable tomaintain this (existing) data structure or format without any additionof fields for mapping purposes. Thus, utilizing the above-describedtechnique, the processor of the mobile communication device may refrainfrom storing latitude and longitude coordinates (or any othermap/position data) in association with each address book contact. Infact, the latitude and longitude coordinates may be discarded and nolonger utilized in association with the address book contact afterinitially rendering the map, or some short period of time thereafter.This way, the data structure for each address book contact may bemaintained and memory in the mobile communication device may also beconserved. Further note that the map server (e.g. server 321) mayutilize a consistent input/output protocol (e.g. input=latitude andlongitude coordinates, output=map rendering data) without requiring suchmap server to handle requests having an address as an input. Thus, theintermediate use of the address geocoding server, for temporarilyobtaining and utilizing latitude and longitude coordinate data, via thewireless network, is useful.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another general method of associating mappingfunctionality and information in the contact book or list. Again, in theexample provided, the contact book is an address book as describedearlier above. However, the contact book or list may be any suitablecontact book or list, such as a telephone number book or list, an e-mailaddress book or list, or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or USIM bookor list. The method is performed by a mobile communication device asdescribed in relation to the previous figures, or alternatively by anycomputer or communication device (e.g. a PC). The method may be executedby one or more processors of the communication device. A computerprogram product for the mobile station may include computer instructionsstored on a computer readable medium (memory, a floppy disk or CD-ROM)which are written in accordance with the described logic of this method.

Beginning at a start block 1502 of FIG. 15, the processor causes a mapof a location to be visually displayed in a display of the mobilecommunication device (step 1504 of FIG. 15). The mapping may beperformed upon a request through the user interface from the end user tomap a specific location or address, or the mapping may be the real-timelocation of the mobile communication device which is in a mobileenvironment. Next, the processor receives a user input request toassociate the location of the map with an address book contact in theaddress book of the mobile communication device (step 1506 of FIG. 15).The user input request may be part of a user input request to create anew address book contact, or part of a user input request to insert thelocation with an existing address book contact. In response, theprocessor causes location data corresponding to the location to bestored in one or more location fields of the address book contact (step1508 of FIG. 15). Such functionality may be provided for any addressbook contacts within the address book, and for any possible locationpresented in a map.

The technique of FIG. 15 may be partially illustrated by viewing thedisplayed maps in relation to FIGS. 8, 11, and 12 in reverse. First, amap on the display is rendered (e.g. FIG. 12); followed by a pop-up orpull-down menu of functions, one of which includes a “Create AddressBook Contact” function (e.g. FIG. 11); followed, by the insertion of thelocation or address in the address book contact and viewing of thenew/existing address book contact information (e.g. FIG. 8).

Again, in the techniques and the examples shown and described above, thecontact book or list is an address book of a mobile communicationdevice. However, the contact book or list may be any suitable contactbook or list, such as a telephone number book or list, an e-mail addressbook or list, or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or USIM book orlist.

Thus, methods and apparatus for providing mapping functionality in acontact, list of a mobile communication device have been described. Themethods may be embodied in a computer program product comprising acomputer readable medium and computer instructions stored in thecomputer readable medium which are executable by one or more processors.The invention may be part of a mobile communication device having awireless transceiver; one or more processors coupled to the wirelesstransceiver; a user interface which includes a visual display; whereinthe one or more processors are operative to execute the method.

One method of the present disclosure includes the steps of providing acontact list organizer function in a mobile communication device for usein organizing a plurality of contacts of a contact list; identifying,through a user interface of the mobile communication device, a userinput request to map a location of a selected one of the contacts of thecontact list; and in response to the user input request, performing thefollowing further acts of identifying an address of the location in oneor more address fields of the selected contact; sending, to an addressgeocoding server via wireless network, a request for locationcoordinates with the address as an input; receiving, via the wirelessnetwork, latitude and longitude coordinates of the location in responseto the request for the location coordinates; and causing a mapcorresponding to the location of the selected contact to be visuallyrendered in a display of the mobile device based on map rendering datafor the location corresponding to the latitude and longitude coordinatesreceived via the wireless network in response to a request for map dataof the location.

The contact, list may be part of an address book or list having aplurality of address book contacts; a telephone book or list having aplurality of telephone numbers; an e-mail address book or list having aplurality of e-mail address; or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) orUSIM book. As apparent, each contact may have at least one telephonenumber field for a telephone number. In this case, the method mayinclude the further steps of identifying, through the user interface, auser input selection of a telephone number of a contact for placing atelephone call; and causing the telephone call to the telephone numberto be initiated through a wireless communication network in response tothe user input selection. On the other hand, each contact may have atleast one electronic mail (e-mail) address field for an e-mail address.In this case, the method may include the further steps of identifying,through the user interface, a user input selection of an e-mail addressof a contact for sending an e-mail message; and inserting the e-mailaddress as a destination address of the e-mail message in response tothe user input selection. The location may be a pre-stored location, ora real-time location of a mobile communication device associated withthe selected contact received through a wireless transceiver of themobile communication device.

The method may also include the further steps of identifying, throughthe user interface, a user input selection of the selected contact oraddress; causing a menu of functions to be visually displayed in thedisplay in response to the user input selection of the selected contactor address, the menu of functions including a mapping function for theselected contact or address; wherein the act of identifying the userinput request comprises identifying a selection of the mapping function.The method may alternatively include the further steps of identifying,through the user interface, a user input selection of the selectedcontact; causing a menu of functions to be visually displayed in thedisplay in response to the user input selection of the selected contact,the menu of functions including a mapping function for a first addressand a second address of the selected contact; and wherein the act ofidentifying the user input request comprises identifying a selection ofthe mapping function for one of the first address and the secondaddress.

In the preferred approach, the method includes the steps of identifyingan address of the location in one or more address fields of the contact;sending a request for location coordinates with the address as an inputto an address geocoding server via the wireless network; receivinglatitude and longitude coordinates from the address geocoding server inresponse to the request for the location coordinates with the address asthe input; sending a request for map data with the latitude andlongitude coordinates as an input to a map server via the wirelessnetwork; and receiving map rendering data corresponding to the locationfrom the map server in response to the request for the map data with thelatitude and longitude coordinates as the input, wherein the act ofcausing the mapping corresponding to the location to be visuallydisplayed is based on the map rendering data. If the map rendering dataof the location is already cached in memory, the request for the mapdata is merely made to the mapping application of the mobilecommunication device (not to the map server via the wireless network)which retrieves it from the memory for rendering the map.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are intendedto be examples only. Those of skill in the art may effect alterations,modifications and variations to the particular embodiments withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. The invention describedherein in the recited claims intends to cover and embrace all suitablechanges in technology.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a mobile communicationdevice, that is in communication with an address geocoding server and amap server via a wireless communication network, and having a userinterface comprising a display, and a contact list, each contact beingmaintained in memory of the device in a data structure including anaddress field, but excluding any longitude and latitude coordinates of alocation of the contact, the method comprising: displaying a map of alocation in the display; receiving, via the user interface, a request toassociate the location with a selected contact; storing an addresscorresponding to the location in the address field of the selectedcontact; identifying, via the user interface, a selection to map thelocation of the selected contact; reading the address from the addressfield of the selected contact; sending to the address geocoding server arequest for latitude and longitude coordinates with the address as aninput; receiving from the address geocoding server the latitude andlongitude coordinates; when map rendering data corresponding to thereceived latitude and longitude coordinates is cached in the memory:rendering in the display a map corresponding to the received latitudeand longitude coordinates; otherwise, when map rendering datacorresponding to the received latitude and longitude coordinates is notcached in the memory: sending to the map server a request forcontext-filtered maplet data with the received latitude and longitudecoordinates as the input, and further based on a user context which isindependent of the location of the device; receiving from the map serverthe context-filtered maplet data; rendering a map in the display basedon the received context-filtered maplet data; and refraining fromstoring the latitude and longitude coordinates in the data structure ofthe selected contact.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user contextcomprises one of a traveling speed of the device and an occupation of auser of the device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:identifying, through the user interface, a selection of the selectedcontact; and causing a menu of functions to be visually displayed in thedisplay in response to the selection of the selected contact, the menuof functions including the mapping function for the selected contact. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying, through the userinterface, a selection of the address of the selected contact; andcausing a menu of functions to be visually displayed in the display inresponse to the selection of the selected address, the menu of functionsincluding the mapping function for the selected address.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: identifying, through the user interface,a selection of the selected contact; causing a menu of functions to bevisually displayed in the display in response to the selection of theselected contact, the menu of functions including the mapping functionfor a first address and a second address of the selected contact; andwherein identifying the selection of the mapping function is for one ofthe first address and the second address.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the device is configured to operate in the wirelesscommunication network for wireless telephony communications, and whereineach contact has at least one telephone number field for a telephonenumber, the method further comprising: identifying, through the userinterface, a selection of a telephone number of the selected contact forplacing a telephone call; and causing the telephone call to thetelephone number to be initiated through the wireless communicationnetwork in response to the selection.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: discarding the latitude and longitude coordinates.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the contact list is part of one of thefollowing: an address book or list; a telephone book or list; an e-mailaddress book or list; and a Subscriber Identity Module SIM or USIM book.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is embodied in a computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium andcomputer instructions stored in the computer readable medium which areexecutable by one or more processors of the device for performing themethod.
 10. A mobile communication device having a contact list, eachcontact being maintained in memory of the device in a data structureincluding an address field, but excluding any longitude and latitudecoordinates of a location of the contact, the device comprising: awireless transceiver operative for communications with a wirelesscommunication network; one or more processors coupled to the wirelesstransceiver; a user interface which includes a display; the one or moreprocessors being operative to: cause a map of a location to be displayedin the display; receive via the user interface a request to associatethe location with a selected contact; store an address corresponding tothe location in the address field of the selected contact; identify viathe user interface a selection to map the location of the selectedcontact in the contact list; read, by the one or more processors, theaddress from the address field of the selected contact; send to anaddress geocoding server via the wireless transceiver a request forlatitude and longitude coordinates with the address as an input; receivefrom the address geocoding server via the wireless transceiver thelatitude and longitude coordinates; when map rendering datacorresponding to the received latitude and longitude coordinates iscached in the memory render in the display a map corresponding to thereceived latitude and longitude coordinates; otherwise, when maprendering data corresponding to the received latitude and longitudecoordinates is not cached in the memory: send to a map server via thewireless transceiver a request for context-filtered maplet data with thereceived latitude and longitude coordinates as an input, and furtherbased on a user context which is independent of the location of thedevice; receive from the map server via the wireless transceiver thecontext-filtered maplet data; render a map in the display based on thereceived context-filtered maplet data; and refrain from storing thelatitude and longitude coordinates in the data structure of the selectedcontact.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the user context comprisesone of a traveling speed of the device and an occupation of a user ofthe device.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further operative to: identify, through the userinterface, a selection of the selected contact; and cause a menu offunctions to be visually displayed in the display in response to theselection of the selected contact, the menu of functions including themapping function for the selected contact.
 13. The device of claim 10,wherein the one or more processors are further operative to: identify,through the user interface, a selection of the address of the selectedcontact; and cause a menu of functions to be visually displayed in thedisplay in response to the selection of the selected address, the menuof functions including the mapping function for the selected address.14. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors arefurther operative to: discard the latitude and longitude coordinates.15. The device of claim 10, which is configured to operate in thewireless communication network for wireless telephony communications,and wherein each contact has at least one telephone number field for atelephone number, and the one or more processors are further operativeto: identify, through the user interface, a selection of a telephonenumber of the selected contact for placing a telephone call; and causethe telephone call to the telephone number to be initiated through thewireless communication network in response to the selection.
 16. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the mobile communication device isconfigured to operate in the wireless communication network for wirelessmessage communications, wherein each contact has at least one electronicmail (e-mail) address field for an e-mail address, and the one or moreprocessors are further operative to: identify, through the userinterface, a selection of an e-mail address of the selected contact forsending an e-mail message; and insert the e-mail address as adestination address of the e-mail message in response to the selection.17. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors arefurther operative to discard the latitude and longitude coordinates. 18.The device of claim 10, wherein the contact list is part of one of thefollowing: an address book or list; a telephone book or list; an e-mailaddress book or list; and a Subscriber Identity Module SIM or USIM book.